Rioting and Social Media

One of the positive dialogues that cropped up following the riots is the ever present role of social media. Whilst it has many positive elements there is now an increasing debate about being more responsible with social media.

Sometimes it really does feel a little like The Emperor’s New Clothes . We are bombarded with “keeping up” messages  - indeed this site encourages connections through Facebook and Twitter. But maybe time to take stock. In the many elements that have fed into the recent unrest  - I suspect feeling disconnected is one of them. Disconnected from meaningful relationships. Isn’t it interesting that many mobile phone shops were targeted and we know that many mobile phones were stolen.

It takes effort to really connect with people  - meeting them face to face or indeed having a phone call, rather than E mail,  text, tweet, BBM , RSS etc etc. If that type of interaction is virtually all you know then again it is no wonder that we are feeling isolated and perhaps we are compromising our emotional intelligence. Professor Susan Greenfield  is a voice talking about the downside of immersion in social media and technology. It seems that increasingly she has supporters. 

As MIND recommends getting outside as a factor in better mental health,  perhaps it is wise  to engage in the great outdoors but also to try and minimise checking mobile devices endlessly whilst we do it. It’s difficult  - I have only recently logged how much I check my mobile phone. But I also notice that immersing myself in a non technology driven activity is very rewarding and takes discipline.

Yes we need to stay connected but time to think about how connected you really are.